(Santander 1881–1931 Paris)
A Baby with Rattle, signed M Blanchard, oil on canvas, 46 x 38 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Elie Burthoul (1875-1948), Brussels;
his sale, Galerie Georges Giroux, Brussels, 11 March 1950 (on the reverse wax seal);
Private Collection Belgium.

Exhibited:
Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux, Exposition de l’Art vivant dans les collections privées belges, 2-19 June, 1947.

Marie Blanchard was one of the most accomplished Spanish female artists to reside in early twentieth century Paris. She was born in Santander in 1881 and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid under Emilio Sala (1850-1910). In 1909, she was granted a scholarship to study in Paris, where she trained at the Vitti Academy under Anglada Camarasa (1871-1959). In 1914, the outbreak of the First World War led her to return to Madrid, where she shared a studio in her mother’s house with artists she met in Paris. She moved back to Paris in 1918 and spent the rest of her life there. She found immediate success in 1921 at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris and met important art dealers who provided her with access to a broader market.
This painting was exhibited at the Galerie Georges Giroux in Brussels in 1947. The gallery was founded in Brussels in 1912 and became one of the most important art galleries in Belgium during the first half of the twentieth century. Having no children of her own, scenes with babies were amongst Maria Blanchard’s most frequently painted subjects. Here, she paints a sensitive portrait of a baby playing with his rattle. She was a prolific artist who enjoyed international success during her lifetime.